On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued a final rule banning non-compete clauses nationwide. The final rule requires a comprehensive ban on all new non-competes with workers, finding that the use of non-competes is an unfair method of competition, and thus a violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Current Status of the Final Rule The final rule, which passed on a 3-2 vote, is scheduled to become effective 120 days after its date of publication in the Federal Register. That publication is expected to occur shortly. However, it should be noted that enfo ..read more

Much has been made about the burdensome impact of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) which was created under the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act but only took effect on January 1, 2024. Compliance with the CTA has required significant amounts of additional reporting work for individual investors, small businesses, and their advisors. Many have questioned the purpose of the policy, expressing opinions that Congress’s intent with the CTA is to cut down on the use of shell corporations by drug dealers, terrorists, and others to launder money through the U.S. financial system and/or ..read more

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Accounts (NJDOL) will not pursue an appeal of a decision allowing court reporters to be recognized as independent contractors, definitively concluding a circuitous legal battle that has lasted more than a decade. In early March, the window closed to seek leave to appeal the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division’s decision in Jersey Shore Reporting LLC and State Shorthand Reporting Services v. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. NJDOL Audit and Field Services Assistant Director Christopher ..read more

For years, worker classification has been a hotly debated topic in New Jersey’s legislature and judicial system, particularly concerning the distinction between employees and independent contractors. Among those targeted have been court reporting professionals and their agencies, who collectively have been subject to a perplexing fifteen-year saga initiated by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Accounts (“NJDOL”), which inexplicably audited various members of this group, requiring them to reclassify from independent contractors to employees, and to pay th ..read more

At the height of the COVID pandemic, the use of travel nurses became increasingly popular at healthcare facilities, including nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. Employed by staffing agencies rather than the facility itself, travel nurses were earning up to $10,000 per week during the pandemic compared to the typical weekly earnings of $1,800-$2,300 for a full time nurse employed at a facility in New Jersey. EO 332 Brings Healthcare Employers Relief and New Recruiting Opportunities  From an employment perspective, it was a welcome relief for New Jersey’s healthcare facilities wh ..read more

Accidents happen. New Jersey defines a motor vehicle as “…all vehicles propelled otherwise than by muscular power…” and this includes trucks, boats, motorcycles, jet skis and other forms of transportation. Sometimes, motor vehicle accidents result in criminal charges. Other times, no criminal charges are filed even when the accident results in death or serious bodily injury. When can criminal charges be filed? Who gets to decide when and if those criminal charges are filed? What kind of charges and penalties can be sought? What happens when someone is injured or killed in a motor vehicle accid ..read more

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a new rule that would ban non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The agency’s comment period closed on April 19, 2023 with more than 26,000 comments received. It will certainly take time for the FTC to review the comments and make changes before adopting a final rule, and even then the rule won’t go into effect until 180 days later. As a result of the number of comments, the FTC’s vote on the rule has been pushed back until at least April 2024. Fortunately, this gives employers more time to prepare for the anticipated ru ..read more

Procedurally, when a practitioner has a client who needs to initiate a probate proceeding, the steps are fairly formulaic. However, even experienced practitioners can run into trouble when a potential client needs to gain access to the property of an individual who has disappeared. Presumed death cases are exceedingly rare. Even more so in fact patterns where an individual just disappears. Tragically, most presumed death cases are the result of a catastrophic event, where the deceased was involved but a body cannot be located. For practitioners in the tri-state area, the attacks on September 1 ..read more

New Jersey business owners typically obtain insurance for protection against losses or damage to their business. In a recent unpublished opinion, Grand Cru LLC d/b/a Restaurant Nicholas v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, et. Als., A-0619-21, the Appellate Division was asked to decide whether a restaurant’s insurance policy provided coverage for losses suffered because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiff Purchased Business Loss and Damage Insurance Plaintiff Grand Cru LLC, doing business as Restaurant Nicholas, operated a restaurant in New Jersey.  Before the COVID-19 emergency, plaintif ..read more

After a long hold, several substantial changes will soon come into effect for businesses conducting layoffs in New Jersey. On January 10, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy signed Assembly Bill No. 4768 into law, which amended the state’s “mini-WARN” act, officially titled the Millville Dallas Airmotive Plant Job Loss Notification Act (NJ WARN). The amendments will result in some of the most expansive requirements in the nation for employers conducting mass layoffs of employees. These amendments, which had originally passed in 2020, had been long delayed in coming into effect due to their effective da ..read more